Ceramic materials are brittle and are difficult and costly to form in arbitrary shapes. In particular, it would be desirable to form electroactive ceramics in more complicated shapes than those currently available.
Some methods of machining ceramics for a variety of reasons have been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,484 to Caruso et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,505 to Arvanitis, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,862 to Kotani et al. disclose using a laser to adjust the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric ceramic. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,422,003, 5,615,466, 5,796,207, and 5,818,149, all to Safari et al., describe methods of producing polymer-ceramic piezoelectric composites. U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,619 to Watanabe describes a method of laser machining apertures in a ceramic member to create gas supply passages.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of machining electroactive ceramics which is relatively inexpensive, capable of producing complex shapes, and does not unduly compromise the electroactive properties of the electroactive ceramic. It is a further object of the present invention to provide sensors and actuators having flexibilities and anisotropic behaviors superior to those known in the art, as well as improved mechanical robustness and handling properties. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide sensors and actuators having shapes which allow superior electromechanical performance compared to those known in the art. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide sensors and actuators which can be attached to electrodes in improved configurations.